AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley has signed winger Andy Barcham knowing “it will work out”.

The 28-year-old has signed from Portsmouth after impressing the Dons boss for the past couple of seasons – including in the 4-0 defeat of Pompey in 2013.

Barcham’s career high came with Gillingham, alongside the Dons skipper Barry Fuller from 2008 to 2011, when he made 102 appearances, scoring 23 goals.

Since then, Barcham made 67 appearances for Scunthorpe, before signing for Pompey in 2013 – the south coast club just pipping Ardley to the player’s signature.

He told Dons Player: “Andy is a player who I really liked in his Scunthorpe days and two years ago I tried desperately to sign him, but he was already close to putting pen to paper with Portsmouth.

“I have monitored him since then and he had a stop-start time there as he did not get a good enough run of games. That is not for me to worry about though.”

He added: “Andy can play on either wing or up front. He is exceptionally quick and is very good at taking players on. He will be given that licence by me.

“Andy played for Portsmouth in the 4-0 game here two seasons ago, but he was probably their shining light.

“When you have liked a player for a couple of years you do not go in thinking ‘I hope it works out’.

“Instead you go in thinking ‘this will work out’. He will certainly fit into several dynamics of ways that we want to play.”